Zucchini and Sausage Tortellini Soup

So this recipe isn’t perfectly healthy, but I have to make exceptions for this soup. It’s our favorite. It’s fabulous. Right after I had my baby one of my sweet neighbors brought it over for dinner, and we were in heaven. So I got the recipe from her, but I’ve changed it to make it a bit healthier. It’s loaded with zucchini, and I love zucchini. We don’t even care that it’s the middle of the summer in Las Vegas – we’ll eat this soup anytime!

Zucchini and Sausage Tortellini Soup

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb Italian Seasoned Ground Turkey (I used this as a substitution for 1lb ground Italian sausage)
• 1 cup coarsely chopped onions
• 2 cloves glarlic, chopped
• 8 cups beef broth
• 3/4 cups water
• 2 cups diced tomatoes (I used canned petite diced)
• I cup thinly sliced carrots
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 3-4 cups sliced zucchini (we like ours loaded with zucchini)
• 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 lb frozen or refrigerated cheese tortellini (the unhealthy part)
• grated parmesan for topping
• sea salt to taste

Brown turkey sausage and set aside. Add onions and garlic and sauté until onions are tender. Add turkey sausage, beef broth, water, diced tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, then let simmer uncovered until carrots are mostly tender, about 20 mins. Stir in zucchini and simmer for about 10 minutes before adding the tortellini. Add the tortellini and simmer for 15-20 minutes (depending on the type of tortellini you use). I buy tortellini that’s done in about 10 minutes, but if yours needs to cook longer, add it in with the zucchini so that the zucchini doesn’t cook too long. Top with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup

Who doesn’t love a good broccoli cheese soup? I don’t know anybody. I’ve ordered it at restaurants since I was just a kid, but I know that it was never healthy. Sooo, hoping to create a healthier option, I threw some things together and came up with this savory soup. Not as thick and creamy as I wish it could be, but it was delicious – the boys were asking for seconds and my husband said it was fantastic (that was the word he used). I’m not vegan or vegetarian, but you could leave out the cheese and and use just vegetable broth to accommodate those diets. Enjoy! We sure did.

Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 1/2-1 cup coconut milk (the one I buy has no coconut taste whatsoever)
• 10 cups chicken or vegetable broth (I did half of each)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 head of cauliflower, chopped
• 1/2-1 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 10 small red potatoes, chopped (you can use whatever potato you want. Add more or less to your liking but I like to use more so that the potatoes are used to thicken the soup).
• 4 cups broccoli
• 1 tsp garlic
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp parsley
• sea salt to taste (didn’t need much)
• 1-2 cups cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except for broccoli and cheese in a pot. Bring to a boil, and simmer until veggies are almost tender. Use a hand blender in the pot to puree the vegetables into smaller pieces. Add broccoli, and cook until broccoli is tender. I used the hand blender once more to puree the veggies into finer pieces. Add cheese and stir until melted. Remove from heat and serve. You can add more veggies, less veggies, milk, or meat if you want to.

Broccoli, Red Pepper, and Flank Steak Stir Fry Over Quinoa

This was one of our favorite dinners thus far. My children gobbled it up, my husband said it was amazing, and my sister said she was thinking about it the next day. Now, this does have beef in it. We rarely eat steak, but I saw a recipe like this on Pinterest and thought it would be fine to use beef this time. If you don’t like meat, don’t use it. Or use chicken instead, I’m sure that would taste great as well.

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Broccoli, Red Pepper, and Flank Steak Stir Fry over Quinoa

Ingredients

• Quinoa, 1 cup uncooked
• Flank steak, thinly sliced (as little or as much as you like – we use very small amounts of meat)
• Broccoli, 1 head, cut into small pieces
• 1 red pepper
• beef broth
• soy sauce (I have yet to find a substitution for this)
• Garlic powder
• onion powder
• ground ginger
• honey, 2 tsp
• sea salt

Directions

1. To cook quinoa, add 2 cups water per 1 cup of quinoa. Rinse quinoa thoroughly before cooking. Add quinoa and water to a pot, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium to low. Cover with a lid, simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring only occasionally. Quinoa will be done when the little white thing forms a circle around the grain. Turn pot off and let sit about 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.  **Water can be substituted for broth to add more flavor.
2. Cook beef in a little bit of olive oil or beef broth. Season with garlic, onion, ginger, and sea salt. When meat is cooked, remove from pan.
3. Add broccoli florets and thinly sliced red peppers with 1/2 – 1 cup beef broth. Season with garlic, a little soy sauce, and cover. Allow to steam for a few minutes until tender.
4. When veggies are cooked to your liking, put beef back in, add honey and more broth if needed. Stir in quinoa and serve warm.

**If using chicken, substitute beef broth for chicken broth.

Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia with Riced Cauliflower and Corn and Zucchini

For dinner tonight we had this quick and healthy meal. It was really good. Not just good for being healthy, but actually good on its own.

I have only recently become a fish eater, within the last couple years, but I’m still quite particular about which type of fish I will eat. Tilapia is one that I will eat, and I only buy it fresh. Never frozen. I’m no fish expert, so I don’t claim to know what I’m doing, but I’ve been told that they fresher the fish the less fishy the taste. Luckily, my boys love fish, and I’m pretty sure it’s because G-Pa has been cooking trout for them since they were old enough to go fishing with him. They are also good veggie eaters, so I don’t have a problem trying to force veggies down their throats. With all the healthy changes we’ve made in our house I’m glad that we can now put fish on the menu. That means less boneless skinless chicken breasts (which I pretty much HATE) around here.

For the recipes:

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Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia

I used Rachel Ray’s recipe found here. I followed this recipe pretty closely, but I think I used more fish and added sea salt. Oh, and I didn’t have fresh parsley, so I just sprinkled some parsley flakes in, but certainly not a tablespoon if you are going that route.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• 2 teaspoons paprika

• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

• 4 tilapia fillets (about 1 pound total)

• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees . In a shallow dish, combine the cheese with the paprika and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the fish with olive oil and dredge in the cheese mixture. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until the fish is opaque in the thickest part, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve the fish with the lemon wedges.

**I cooked for about 18 minutes and let it set for about 10 before serving, or I found it to be too juicy. Some people like juice, but we don’t like to drink our fish around here.

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Riced Cauliflower

Ingredients

• cauliflower
• season to taste

Directions

1. 1. Steam as much cauliflower as you like until cauliflower is softened but slightly firm. Throw into a food processor and process just until cauliflower starts to look like rice. Season with sea salt or whatever you like. I added a little butter, a teaspoon or less (not margarine) so my children wouldn’t complain. Eat as a side or top with veggies or whatever you want!

**I have seen this cauliflower rice processed raw without steaming first and then microwaved, but I’m not keen on microwaving the nutrients out of my food, so I don’t use the microwave. This is the method that has worked best for me.

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Corn and Zucchini

Ingredients

• frozen sweet white corn (I use Organic super sweet white corn)
• 2 zucchini, diced
• chicken broth for cooking
• Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning
• sea salt

Directions

1. Add some chicken broth or veggie broth to the bottom of a frying pan (just enough to keep veggies from sticking to the pan, add more as needed), and then add diced up zucchini. Season with Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning, to taste. When zucchini is almost cooked add frozen corn kernels. Season with sea salt to taste, and cook for a few minutes until corn is no longer frozen.